Simeon was born on the Syrian border of Cilicia. As a thirteen-year-old herding sheep, he had a vision that he took to mean that his later life would be spent on pillars (stylites comes from the Greek stylos, “pillar”). He entered a monastery, but was asked to leave because of his excessive self-mortification, which included lengthy periods of fasting and self-flagellation.

St. Anthony the Great wrote, “The Fathers of Old went forth into the desert, and when they themselves were made whole, they became physicians and returning again, they made others whole.”

Simeon became a hermit near Antioch; then he moved to the top of a mountain and his piety began to attract crowds. Going even farther to get away from them, he built a 10-foot-high pillar and lived on top of it. For the rest of his life he lived on successively higher pillars. The last was about 60 feet high and was his home for twenty years. None of the pillars measured more than 6 feet in diameter at the top.

Clad in animal skins and host to quite a number of vermin, he preached from those positions, made converts, and was considered a respected and holy man. Even emperors consulted him. Women, however, were not allowed near the pillar sitter's enclosure.

Simeon Stylites practiced other great austerities. He ate and slept very little. He was too tall to stretch out on the platform atop the pillar, but he would not accept any kind of seat. Once in a while he would stoop for rest; other times he would just let his body go slack.

He died this way, falling forward from a praying position. The date of his death has been passed on as either July 24 or September 2, and he was the first of what would become known as the “pillar ascetics.” His feast day is January 5.